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India v Australia, 1st Test, Bangalore, 4th day
Ian Chappell: Watson-Haddin stand crucial
October 12, 2008
'Look for Ricky Ponting to give India about 84 overs to bat but that is only if Virender Sehwag's name doesn't feature too heavily in the equation. It's been a pretty enthralling day and I expect we are going to see a few more twists and turns before the fifth day is over.' Ian Chappell analyses the action on day four in Bangalore
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Here's my prediction: Aussies give India a target of 350 after batting out first hour. Then on, it'll be a torture for Indian fans as India struggle to survive. They'll survive upto tea with 5 down and a total of a 100 odd thereby eliminating the chances of an Indian win. Post tea, they'll suddenly manage to lose 5 wickets and give victory to the Aussies who'll celebrate it like there's no tomorrow.
Early dismissals for most of the top order and very hard fought 50s for Ganguly and Laxman - and no resistence from the tail. This has been the story of Indian cricket in the recent past and since the team is pretty much the same, the story has to repeat again.
I simply hope though that my prediction does not come true and Indians show some spine like that wonderful day in Calcutta a few years ago.
But I'm still a die hard Indian fan so I say - You Go India - teach them self obsessed Aussies a lesson. Remember - win it first in your minds. Then you just execute it on the ground.
Posted by TruSport on October 13 2008, 03:41 AM GMT
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Sehwag can be a match twister but India's middle order will decide the fate. From australia's side i think Clarke will once again come out with his surprise spins.
Its going to be great action tommorrow.
Enjoy.
Posted by Parth-Dhamelia on October 12 2008, 23:26 PM GMT
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Yes I do agree on the whole Dhon captaincy thing I've said several times on Ian Chappells forums that Anil Kumble cannot set fields well and that Mahendra Dhoni is a much better captaincy candidate.
Some brave batting from Brad Haddin and Shane Watson after a super effort by Zaheer Khan and also a little assistance from Ishant Sharma.
Harbhajan bowled a lot better and Australia are missing having a Shane Warne or Brad Hogg to bowl some spin and make the Indians work for their runs.
What a great game this is and expect an exciting finish on what will be a roller-coaster Day 5.
Posted by shanewarne63 on October 12 2008, 18:31 PM GMT
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Ian Chappell is absolutely right, but the problem is with the consistency of india's batsmen. the only person indians can truly trust is rahul dravid who still doesn't look confident enough. virendra sehwag is kind of batsman who can turn the game into india's favour but his batting stratagy is always unreliable. if he goes on scoring, he is unstoppable, but the way he threw his wicket off in previous inning, that makes me think how much we can look forward to him specially when the surface is unpredictable with uneven bounce. it all depends on how australian bowlers bowl. hope indians don't make too many mistakes.
Posted by i_am_proud_tobe_an_indian on October 12 2008, 17:35 PM GMT
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India gave themselves a slight chance to win the match with Australia at 128/5, but htey blew it with Harbhajan bowling a lege stump line, to a 6-3 onside field. Instead he should have bowled into the rough outside the off stump and enticed the batsmen to drive. That would have made things a lot more difficult for Haddin, Watson and the rest. The Aussies would've probably been all out, leaving India with less than 250 to chase on the last day.
I was watching from the stands, and was appalled at the ridiculous, unimaginative and uninspiring captaincy of Anil Kumble. Shoulder injury or whatever, it's time for him to leave the reins to a much more aggressive and intelligent captain - MS Dhoni.
Posted by crikbuff on October 12 2008, 17:33 PM GMT
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I may be totally off track here, but is Anil Kumble a better player than he is a captain? I really admire his grit and his game but it somehow seems that the team performed better under M.S.Dhoni. Like I said, I may be totally off track here and all the plans could have been laid out previously and Anil Kumble may have remote controlled the game, but still, as they all say, it is out in the middle that you actually take decisions. No matter what Mr. Geoffrey Boycott has to say, I think the selectors need to promote Dhoni to Captain of the test team too, but after this series. To me, though, Anil Kumble will always remain a great player.
Posted by Mahesh_AV on October 12 2008, 16:18 PM GMT
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Ponting did a blunder.he should have declare 20 minutes before stumps.now this step of his,not only give india a chance for a draw,but also give them to come back fresh and healthy in the morning.pitch becomes easy.as chappel said,there will be some twist in the tale,surely as you see still,there is some life for batting,on the pitch.There will be some purchase for spinners too.but not for pacers.Michael clark will play the main key role for australia,and similar role,laxman-ganguly will play for india,on the last day.iam crossfingered for the result,but we are going towards a draw.good luck to both teams.
Posted by Ilin on October 12 2008, 16:00 PM GMT
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I think the match is more in favor of Aussies at this moment. They should not wait too long before they declare because they might not leave enough overs for themselves to get 10 wickets. India's record in chasing scores in 4th innings is very poor and one should not discount that fact. You are right in that Sehwag is the danger man. The rest of India's batsman - mostly fab four - will be more looking to save the match than go for the win and history proves that other than on one or two occasions they were not successful in saving either. I would say that if they get Sehwag before lunch or shortly after, they have for the most part either sealed a win or at worst a draw. India has to absovle themselves of the fab five if they want to be a positive thinking team going for a win rather than always being scared to loose.
Posted by BangaloreKid on October 12 2008, 15:26 PM GMT
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